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SN 12.47PTS SN 2.761 min read

Jānussoṇi

Jāṇussoṇisutta

The brahmin Jāṇussoṇi asks the Buddha whether all exists or nothing exists. The Buddha rejects both views as extreme.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 12.47Linked Discourses 12.47
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0.3JāṇussoṇisuttaJānussoṇi

1.1Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho jāṇussoṇi brāhmaṇo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavatā saddhiṁ …pe… ekamantaṁ nisinno kho jāṇussoṇi brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Then the brahmin Jānussoṇi went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. Seated to one side he said to the Buddha:1

2.1“Kiṁ nu kho, bho gotama, sabbamatthī”ti?“Worthy Gotama, does all exist?”

2.2“‘Sabbamatthī’ti kho, brāhmaṇa, ayameko anto”.“‘All exists’: this is one extreme, brahmin.”

3.1“Kiṁ pana, bho gotama, sabbaṁ natthī”ti?“Then does all not exist?”

3.2“‘Sabbaṁ natthī’ti kho, brāhmaṇa, ayaṁ dutiyo anto.“‘All does not exist’: this is the second extreme.

3.3Ete te, brāhmaṇa, ubho ante anupagamma majjhena tathāgato dhammaṁ deseti:Avoiding these two extremes, the Realized One teaches by the middle way:3.4‘avijjāpaccayā saṅkhārā;‘Ignorance is a requirement for choices.

3.5saṅkhārapaccayā viññāṇaṁ …pe…Choices are a requirement for consciousness. …3.6evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.3.7Avijjāya tveva asesavirāganirodhā saṅkhāranirodho;When ignorance fades away and ceases with no residue left behind, choices cease.3.8saṅkhāranirodhā viññāṇanirodho …pe…When choices cease, consciousness ceases. …3.9evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa nirodho hotī’”ti.That is how this entire mass of suffering ceases.’”

4.1PTS 2.77Evaṁ vutte, jāṇussoṇi brāhmaṇo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:When he said this, the brahmin Jānussoṇi said to the Buddha,4.2“abhikkantaṁ, bho gotama …pe…“Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! …4.3pāṇupetaṁ saraṇaṁ gatan”ti.From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”2

4.4Sattamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. We meet Jānussoṇi many times in the Suttas as a prominent brahmin who converses with the Buddha on a number of topics, with a special interest in the afterlife. His name appears in Sanskrit as Jānaśruti or Jānaśruteya, which are patronymics of Janaśruti, “famed among the people”. The Pali commentary says it is a title awarded the family priest (purohita) of Kosala, which would make him one of the most powerful brahmins alive. However, I can find no confirmation of such a title, whereas the use of Jānaśruti as a patronymic by the descendants of Janaśruti is well attested. One such, perhaps the same individual we meet in the Suttas, features in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 4.1–3 as a generous seeker of the truth.

    ↩ sn12.47:1.2

  2. Jānussoṇi goes for refuge so often in the suttas that it is almost a genre unto itself (MN 4, MN 27, AN 2.17:3.1, AN 3.55, AN 3.59, AN 4.184, AN 6.52, AN 7.47, AN 10.119, AN 10.167, AN 10.177). Such narrative accounts of conversion or enlightenment at the end of discourses are not very reliable, as they are not the Buddha’s words but were added by editors at some point.

    ↩ sn12.47:4.3